Page 15 - DDME "The Disaster Forum"

6. Emergency CommunicaTon
A key ac@on point coming out of our AOer Ac@on Report following the 2017 Hurricane Season was the need to ensure that the TCI has a robust communica@on system and that redundancies are in place. While this has not been fully addressed but nonetheless, we have made significant progress.
With regard to Radio Communica@on;
• DDME has successfully restored its inter-island emergency radio communica@ons and it is now able to communicate with the District Commissioners in the various islands. Radios have been programmed and tested and persons were also trained in how to operate them. These radios will be placed throughout the shelters to ensure that we can also communicate with the shelters to obtain updates. DDME will con@nue to work with its various partners and stakeholders to further strengthened inter-agency radio communica@on around the islands.
Following the double storm impact of 2017 Satellite Phones proved to be an invaluable asset in the coordina@on and response ac@vi@es. As a result of this;
• All cri@cal agencies can now boast of having satellite phones to be used as a back-up in the event of a communica@on failure. We have created a database that contain the sim numbers for these satellite phones and the person it has been assigned to. Persons have also received training on how to effec@vely operate these satellite phones.
BGAN
• DDME also has a BGAN which will allow us to use a satellite to transmit informa@on via phone or the internet aOer an emergency. We currently have one at each of the DDME offices in Grand Turk and Providenciales and the Governor’s Office is also equipped with same. This therefore further strengthened our emergency communica@on capabili@es should there be a major disrup@on to our normal communica@on networks.
7. Plans Policies Developed/Updated
Having a plan in place, being familiar with the plan helps to improve efficiency in coordina@ng and responding to emergencies. In this regard, approximately 10 plans, policies and procedures were either draOed or updated to guide decision making before, during and aOer a tropical storm event. These included:
• Na@onal Hurricane Plan
• Shelter Management Plan, SOP and Policy
• Relief Management Policy
• Na@onal Systema@c shutdown and reac@va@on Policy and SOP
• Na@onal Emergency Opera@on Center SOP
• Crisis Communica@on and Public Informa@on Plan
• Salt Cay, Middle and South Caicos Emergency Response Plan
• Na@onal Policy for Disaster Risk Management in the Tourism Sector
• Na@onal Policy for Volunteer Management
• Damage and Needs Assessment Policy
8. Relief Supplies
For the 2019/2020 budget the DDME received approximately $420,000 for the procurement of relief supplies to augment stocks that were received from the FCO and to replenish stocks that were depleted following hurricane Irma and Maria in 2017. Some stocks have already been pre-posi@oned throughout the sister islands. Addi@onal stocks will also be procured through the tender process which was adver@sed this week.
Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our partners, both public and private, NGOs, Statutory, volunteers, regional and interna@onal en@@es such as CDEMA and the Foreign Common Wealth Office (FCO) for their collabora@on and support in working together towards building resilience in the TCI.
Let us all remember that it only takes ONE Storm!
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